ISTANBUL: The results of the first round of the presidential election in Turkiye were confirmed by the country’s Supreme Election Board on Friday. Neither the incumbent president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, nor his main rival, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, received the majority support necessary for an outright victory.
A runoff election will take held on May 28 between the top two candidates after the electoral board reported that Erdogan received 49.24 percent of the vote, Kilicdaroglu received 45.07 percent, and nationalist leader Sinan Ogan received 5.28 percent.
After withdrawing from the contest, Ogan, a former academic who was supported by a party opposed to immigration, could hold the key to winning the runoff.
Ogan outlined the requirements to obtain his support in a statement to Turkish media earlier this week. Taking a firm position against the PKK and setting a deadline for the return of millions of refugees, including around 3.7 million Syrians, are two among them.
The PKK, which has fought a long-running insurgency in southeast Turkey, is regarded as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US, and the EU.
Kilicdaroglu changed his language on Thursday in an effort to pander to nationalist supporters; he promised to repatriate millions of refugees and rejected the idea of engaging in peace talks with Kurdish insurgents.
Erdogan claimed in a Friday interview with CNN International that he would not give in to Ogan’s demands: “I’m not a person who loves to bargain in such a way. The people themselves will elect the king.
However, Erdogan and Ogan unexpectedly met on Friday at the former’s office in Istanbul. After the meeting, which lasted over an hour, nothing was spoken.
